Byzantium And The Crusades

In this episode, we hear how King Fulk of Jerusalem died leaving the Kingdom of Jerusalem to his widow, Queen Melisende, and how the Crusaders' most feared enemy, Imad al-Din Zengi used this as an opportunity to launch an attack on the County of Edessa. The result would change the crusading world forever. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy...

This podcast series tells how the Crusades were inextricably linked with the Byzantine Empire. In this episode, we hear how Byzantium, in the 1130s and 1140s, tried to re-establish its control over Antioch, the second city of the Empire, lost to the Turks in 1084, and captured by the First Crusade in 1098. Antioch was now a Crusader state - the Principality of Antioch - and the Crusaders would not...

This podcast series tells how the Crusades were inextricably linked with the Byzantine Empire. In this episode, we hear about how the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate tried to destroy the newly established Crusader state of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the early 1100's. And how it very nearly succeeded. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The B...

This podcast series tells how the Crusades were inextricably linked with the Byzantine Empire. In this episode, we hear about the creation of the fourth Crusader state - called the County of Tripoli. It would in future play a vital role in the history of the Crusades, linking the Crusaders of Antioch and Edessa, in the north, with those of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the south. Please take a look...

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. In this episode, we hear how one of the greatest leaders of the First Crusade, Bohemond, the ruler of the Principality of Antioch, turns against Byzantium and launches a war against the Byzantine Emperor, Alexios. However, things do not turn out as he hoped. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you...

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. In this episode, the year is 1101. The First Crusaders have achieved what seemed impossible. They have saved Byzantium from destruction at the hands of the Turks, as well as capturing Jerusalem and defeating the Fatimid Egyptians. Now the scene seems to be set for the consolidation of their gains. But the new crusaders s...

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It's based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, after the long and traumatic siege of Antioch, the First Crusaders are faced with a major division when Bohemond says he won't leave Antioch and march on Jerusalem. Then news arrives that the powerful Fatimid Caliphate i...

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It's based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, we hear how the Crusaders laid siege to Antioch, a huge and heavily fortified city, that had previously been the third city of the Roman Empire. The siege would take months and nearly broke the Crusade. Please take a look at...

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It's based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, we hear how the First Crusade began as a mass popular movement in Western Europe, how various armies marched east to Constantinople, and how they fared in their first battles against the Turks who had occupied Byzantine Anato...

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, we follow the desperate attempts by the remarkable Byzantine Emperor, Alexios Komnenos, to save Byzantium from the host of enemies surrounding it, from Normans to Pechenegs and Turks. This would eventually lead to a plea for help...

This podcast series tells how Byzantium was central to the Crusades. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, we ask the question why do historians even today tend to write off Romanos Diogenes' attempts to save Byzantium? The answer takes us on a journey through the writings of the main Byzantine chroniclers of the time. We learn how the tr...

This podcast series tells how Byzantium was central to the Crusades. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, we hear about the reign of the Emperor Michael VII Doukas, which must count as the most disastrous reign in the whole of Byzantine history. By the end, Anatolia has been overrun by the Turks, and Byzantium is facing enemies advancing agai...

This podcast series tells how Byzantium was central to the Crusades. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, we look at the fall of Byzantium after the Battle of Manzikert. We start with the civil war that followed the battle between the Emperor Romanos Diogenes and the powerful Doukai family who had betrayed him at Manzikert. Please take a look...

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. This episode is about the Battle of Manzikert, one of the most decisive battles in history, as well as the original cause of the Crusades. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine W...

This podcast series tells the story of the Crusades from the Byzantine angle. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, the Byzantine and Seljuk Turkish armies are gathering for one of the greatest battles of the Middle Ages - the Battle of Manzikert.  Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The...

This podcast series tells how the decline of Byzantium was the original cause of the Crusades. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, the year is 1070, just before the Byzantines launch their greatest offensive against the Seljuk Turks in 1071. The Byzantine Emperor, Romanos Diogenes, decides to stay in Constantinople rather than lead his army...

This podcast series tells how the decline of Byzantium was the original cause of the Crusades. It is based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, the year is 1069, and the new Byzantine Emperor, Romanos Diogenes, is determined to save Byzantium from the raids of the Seljuk Turks. But the Turks are a formidable enemy, and the Emperor also finds that he has...

This podcast series presents a new angle on the origins of the Crusades based on the book "The Byzantine World War" by Nick Holmes. In this episode, the year is 1068. The Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes leads the newly trained Byzantine army to victory against the Emir of Aleppo and captures the Arab frontier city of Hierapolis. But, just as his army celebrates their victory in Syr...

This podcast series presents a new angle on the Crusades based on the book called The Byzantine World War by Nick Holmes. It explains that Byzantium was the main cause of the First Crusade. This episode describes the new Byzantine army which the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes put together in 1068 to fight the first of his campaigns against the Seljuk Turks. Please take a look at my website nickholmes...

This podcast series presents a new angle on the Crusades based on the book called The Byzantine World War by Nick Holmes. It explains that Byzantium was the main cause of the First Crusade. This episode explores the background to the pivotal Battle of Manzikert in 1071. It focuses on the fierce war fought in Armenia from the late 1040s to 1060s, as the Byzantine army struggled to contain the incre...

This podcast series presents a new angle on the Crusades based on the book called The Byzantine World War by Nick Holmes. It explains that Byzantium was the original cause of the First Crusade, following its devastating defeat at the Battle of Manzikert. Byzantium also continued to play a critical role throughout the Crusades, up until the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople in 1204. But what rea...

This podcast series is about the Battle of Manzikert. With excerpts taken from the Byzantine World War by Nick Holmes, it tries to unravel what really happened at Manzikert, a battle that changed history. In the second episode in the series, we look at the challenges that faced Byzantium in the eleventh century, as hordes of new barbarian invaders appeared on its borders and it struggled to mainta...

This podcast series is about the Battle of Manzikert. With excerpts taken from The Byzantine World War by Nick Holmes, it tries to unravel what really happened at Manzikert, a battle that changed history. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

The consequences of the First Crusade for both Byzantium and the wider Medieval world are discussed, including the sacking of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the origins of the First Crusade.

This episode follows Byzantium's appeal to Pope Urban II for help against the Turks, and the resulting military campaign, that in later years became known as the First Crusade - one of the most extraordinary military expeditions in world history. Please take a look at my website nickholmesauthor.com where you can download a free copy of The Byzantine World War , my book that describes the ori...